Immediately after the domestic shipping market in China was opened to foreign shipping lines, Maersk announced the first China coastal international freight sailing starting yesterday (May 31) for the last leg of ocean freight from Shanghai's Yangshan port to Tianjin.

The 2008-built Merete Maersk transported 27 containers from the Port of Vancouver in Canada to China for this historic transshipment.

"We are proud to be the first foreign company that successfully implements international cargo relay in China," said Soren Skou, CEO, A.P. Moller - Maersk, who continues, "Transshipment in Shanghai allows us to improve services through optimised networks and could also address some of the factors behind the bottlenecks in Chinese supply chains, shortening transit times, reducing emissions and freeing up additional capacity for our customers."

In China, international freight transport between two Chinese ports has historically been considered domestic transportation and is therefore strictly prohibited for foreign carriers. Now, the Chinese authorities decided to change this rule.

Skou described the decision as an "important step towards optimising relay regulations" and concluded, "we hope it will serve as an inspiration in other geographies where restrictions on international relay still exist."

In November 2021, China's Ministry of Transport announced that international cargo transshipment will be allowed to trial until the end of 2024. Based on third country reciprocity conditions and met for some additional criteria, qualified carriers can use their owned vessels to carry out international cargo relay between Shanghai Yangshan and northern Chinese ports, including Dalian, Tianjin and Qingdao, according to Maersk announcement.